Everything about Li Hongzhang totally explained
Li Hongzhang,
Marquis Suyi of the First Class,
GCVO, (
February 15,
1823 –
November 7,
1901) was a
Chinese general who ended several major rebellions, and a leading statesman of the late
Qing Empire. He served in important positions of the Imperial Court, once holding the office of the
Viceroy of Zhili.
He was best known in the west for his diplomatic negotiation skills. Since
1894 First Sino-Japanese War, Li had become a literary symbol for China's embarrassments in the late Qing Dynasty. His image in China remains largely controversial, with most criticizing his lack of political insight and his failure to win a single external military campaign against foreign powers, but praising his role as a pioneer of industrial and millitary modernization in Late Qing, his diplomatic skills and his internal military campaigns against the
Taiping Rebellion.
Life
Li Hongzhang was born in the village of Qunzhi (群治村) in Modian township (磨店鄉), 14 kilometers (9 miles) northeast of downtown
Hefei,
Anhui. From very early in life, he showed remarkable ability, and he became a
shengyuan in the
imperial examination system. In 1847, he obtained
jinshi degree, the highest level in the Imperial examination system. Two years later gained admittance into the
Hanlin Academy (翰林院). Shortly after this the central provinces of the empire were invaded by the
Taiping rebels, and in defence of his native district he raised a regiment of militia. His service to the imperial cause attracted the attention of
Zeng Guofan, the generalissimo in command.
In 1859, Li was transferred to the province of
Fujian, where he was given the rank of
taotai, or intendant of
circuit. But at Zeng's request, he was recalled to take part against the rebels. He found his cause supported by the "Ever Victorious Army," which, having been raised by an American named
Frederick Townsend Ward, was placed under the command of
Charles George Gordon. With this support Li gained numerous victories leading to the surrender of
Suzhou and the capture of
Nanjing. For these exploits, he was made governor of
Jiangsu, was decorated with an imperial yellow jacket, and was enfeoffed as an earl.
An incident connected with the surrender of Suzhou, however, soured Li's relationship with Gordon. By an arrangement with Gordon, the rebel princes yielded Nanjing on condition that their lives should be spared. In spite of the agreement, Li ordered their instant execution. This breach of faith so infuriated Gordon that he seized a rifle, intending to shoot the falsifier of his word, and would have done so had Li not fled. On the suppression of the rebellion (1864), Li took up his duties as governor, but wasn't long allowed to remain in civil life. On the outbreak of the
Nian Rebellion in
Henan and
Shandong (1866), he was ordered again to take to the field, and after some misadventures, he succeeded in suppressing the movement. A year later, he was appointed
viceroy of
Huguang, where he remained until 1870, when the
Tianjin Massacre necessitated his transfer to the scene of the outrage. He was, as a natural consequence, appointed to the
viceroyalty of the metropolitan province of
Zhili, and justified his appointment by the energy with which he suppressed all attempts to keep alive the anti-foreign sentiment among the people. For his services, he was made imperial tutor and member of the grand council of the empire, and was decorated with many-eyed peacocks' feathers.
To his duties as viceroy were added those of the superintendent of trade, and from that time until his death, with a few intervals of retirement, he practically conducted the foreign policy of China. He concluded the
Chefoo convention with
Sir Thomas Wade (1876), and thus ended the difficulty caused by the murder of Mr. Margary in
Yunnan; he arranged treaties with
Peru and
Japan, and he actively directed the Chinese policy in
Korea.
On the death of the
Tongzhi Emperor, in 1875, he suddenly introduced a large armed force into the capital and effected a
coup d'etat by which the
Guangxu Emperor was put on the throne under the tutelage of the two
dowager empresses. In 1886, on the conclusion of the
Franco-Chinese War, he arranged a treaty with
France. Li was always strongly impressed with the necessity of strengthening the empire, and when viceroy of Zhili he raised a large well-drilled and well-armed force, and spent vast sums both in fortifying
Port Arthur and the
Taku forts and in increasing the navy. For years, he'd watched the successful reforms effected in
Japan and had a well-founded dread of coming into conflict with that empire.
Because of his prominent role in Chinese diplomacy in Korea and of his strong political connections in
Manchuria, Li Hongzhang found himself leading Chinese forces during the disastrous
Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). In fact, it was mostly the armies that he established and controlled that did the fighting, whereas other Chinese troops led by his rivals and political enemies didn't come to their aid. The fact that some of his men were extremely corrupt further disadvantaged China from the beginning of the war. For instance, one official used ammunition funds for personal use. As a result, shells ran out for the some of the battleships during battle such that one navy commander, Deng Shichang, resorted to ramming the enemies' ship. The defeat of his relatively modernized troops and a small naval force at the hands of the Japanese greatly undermined his political standing, as well as the wider cause of the
Self-Strengthening Movement.
In 1896, he toured
Europe and the
United States of America, where he advocated reform of the American immigration policies that had greatly restricted Chinese immigration after the
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (renewed in 1892). (He also witnessed the
1896 Royal Naval Fleet Review at Spithead.) It was during his visit to Britain in 1896 that Queen Victoria made him a Knight Grand Cross of the
Royal Victorian Order.
Li Hongzhang played a major role in ending the
Boxer Rebellion. In 1901, he was the principal Chinese negotiator with the foreign powers who had captured
Beijing, and, on
September 7,
1901, he signed the treaty (
Boxer Protocol) ending the Boxer crisis, obtaining the departure of the foreign armies at the price of huge indemnities for
China. Exhausted, he died two months later in
Beijing.
Guangxu created him the title
Marquis Suyi of the First Class (一等肃毅候). After his death, this Peerage was inherited by his grandson Li Guojie.
Opinions and legacy
Since the
First Sino-Japanese War (
1894), Li Hongzhang has been generally a target of criticism and was portrayed in many ways as a traitor to the Chinese people, an infamous name that lives in history. Well-known negative comments from common Chinese people, such as "Actor Yang the Third is dead; Mr. Li the Second is the traitor" (杨三已死無蘇丑,李二先生是漢奸), have made the name Li Hongzhang a notorious trademark for traitors. Such a message is also echoed through textbooks and other forms of documents.
As early as
1885, General
Tso, an equally famous but much more respected Chinese military leader, accused Li Hongzhang of being a traitor. Although the Chinese navy was eliminated in August 1884 at the
Battle of Foochow, the Chinese army won a decisive
battle in March 1885, which brought about the fall of the
Jules Ferry government in France. In July 1885, Li signed the Sino-French treaty to confirm the
Treaty of Hué as if the time was still in the year 1884. General Tso couldn't understand Li's behavior. He predicted that Li would be notorious in Chinese history (“李鴻章誤盡蒼生，將落個千古罵名”).
According to Prince
Esper Esperovich Ouchtomsky (
1861-
1921), the learned Russian orientalist and the Chief Executive of
Russo Chinese Bank, Li Hongzhang accepted bribery of 3,000,000 Russian
rubles (about US$1,900,000 at the time) at the time of signing the "Mutual Defense Treaty between China and Russia" on June 3,
1896. In his memoir "Strategic Victory over the
Qing Dynasty", Prince Ouchtomsky wrote: "The day after the signing of the
Mutual Defense Treaty between China and Russia, Romanov, the director of the general office of the Department of Treasury of the Russian Empire, chief officer Qitai Luo and I signed an agreement document to pay Li Hongzhang. The document stipulates that the first 1,000,000 rubles will be paid at the time when the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty announces the approval of constructing the
Chinese Eastern Railway; the second 1,000,000 rubles will be paid at the time of signing the contract to build the railway and deciding the route of the railway; the last 1,000,000 rubles will be paid at the time when the construction of the railway is finished. The document wasn't given to Li Hongzhang, but kept in a top secret folder in the Department of Treasury of Russia." The 3,000,000 rubles were deposited into a dedicated fund of the Russo Chinese Bank. According to the recently exposed records of the Department of Treasury of the Russian Empire, Li Hongzhong eventually received 1,702,500 rubles of the three million, with receipts available at the Russian
Winter Palace archive.
Public comments about Li were oriented towards negative until CCTV production
Towards the Republic was released in 2003. In this controversial TV series produced by mainland China's Central Television station, Li became a heroic image for the first time in mainland China. The series was later banned (mostly due to its extensive coverage on Dr.
Sun Yat-sen's ideas and principles, which are advocated by Chinese nationalists in Taiwan, but not Chinese communists in mainland China).
Nevertheless, many historians and scholars consider Li a sophisticated politician, an adept diplomat and an industry pioneer in the later Qing Dynasty era of Chinese history. Though many of Li's signed treaties were considered unequal and humiliating for China and he was for some decades named a traitor, more and more historical documents are being found showing some of Li's heroic episodes in his encounters with foreigners.
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